Kansas City Association of Black Journalists Logo

Welcome!

Welcome to the official website for the Kansas City Association of Black Journalists (KCABJ). The Kansas City Chapter is home to some of the most distinguished journalistic talent in the country. By cultivating future journalists while still in high school and college, KCABJ invests in the future and longevity of local Black media professionals for years to come.


Mission Statement

The Kansas City Association of Black Journalists will organize and unite members in the fight against institutional and systemic racism in all forms of journalism and employment practices in news media organizations while upholding high ethical and moral standards and empowering members to maintain their identity as Black journalists.


Goals

  • Strengthen and support Black journalists by creating a network of colleagues and mentors united in purpose, identity and direction

  • Examine and analyze institutional and systemic racism plaguing media coverage as a watchdog advocacy group to provide data-driven factual solutions to help eliminate implicit bias, and ensure fair and equitable coverage of Black people, stories, and issues relevant to the community

  • Present solutions to media management and executives to enact and encourage meaningful policy and procedure changes that will allow for fair, balanced, accurate coverage of all races in local media

  • Promote the retention of Black journalists by helping to cultivate diverse newsrooms where employees are treated fairly and feel safe sharing unique perspectives and feedback on news coverage

  • Expand effective and even-minded media coverage by helping to recruit staff to match the demographics of the communities they serve

  • Strengthen media relations within the Black community through the building of fair and equitable coverage and creating a line of communication for the public to reach Black journalists

  • Enhance the professional growth and development of KCABJ members through discussions, workshops, and media-related activities

  • Highlight ethical, fair, and balanced media groups and coverage while also bringing attention to media groups that routinely violate the journalistic ethics

  • Encourage media companies to hire Black journalists in management positions and investigative roles with equitable pay

  • Encourage journalism schools to appoint more tenure-track Black faculty members and lecturers in academia to better reflect the student population demographics while promoting the equitable treatment and training of black journalists within such environments

  • Work with high schools to identify potential journalists by recruiting students to participate in journalism training opportunities and qualify for journalism scholarships